Also, what "nefarious" thing could you (or anyone) do while someone was pissing or shitting that they couldn't do while someone was, say, eating or watching TV?

1) Wait till room mate goes to restroom and leaves door unlocked.
2) Jump in and take a snapshot with your handy digicam.
3) Internet
4) ???
5) PROFIT
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 10:55 AM on September 7, 2008

Router is flaky. Change the wireless channel to 2 or 10 to start with. Try wired for a bit and see if this happens (the fact that AIM works makes me think the router might be losing DNS instead of the wireless connection). If need be you can force windows to use a particular set of DNS servers in the properties of your wireless connection's internet protocol driver.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 5:27 PM on August 31, 2008

Have you tried ipconfig /flushdns at the command prompt? (If you're not familiar with ipconfig and ping, you may want to learn the basics of them).
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 5:29 PM on August 31, 2008

Sounds like just plain old irrational anger issues to me.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 4:29 PM on August 24, 2008

If it's one of those external leaks, the combustion pressure won't be an issue. Still don't trust them and never met anyone who's had a good experience with those things. They only sell because people try to save a buck or get desperate.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 7:43 AM on August 24, 2008

Delete the files, search the registry for AVG/Grisoft and delete the keys you find.
FYI: I'm not responsible if you trash your registry.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 12:25 PM on August 22, 2008

Blood pressure is rising dangerously high under strain because you're not exhaling on the high resistance portion of the exercise. Holding your breath to get that extra power in is a bad idea.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 6:36 PM on August 17, 2008 marked best answer

Saddle soap
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 8:45 AM on August 4, 2008

Next time it happens, see if you can boot from the CD drive. This could be a flaky controller (IDE or SATA, whichever). Can't second the back up enough, I lose so much crap from laziness.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 8:32 PM on June 2, 2008

If it turns out to be too much of a pain, you can look at using wxWidgets for the GUI and cross compiling your C++ with mingw (wxDev-C++ provides a decent gui for this, even).
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 8:14 PM on May 22, 2008

Code::Blocks also has multiple target support, IIRC.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 8:23 PM on May 22, 2008

Bring some comedians on CD. Used to do this on long road trips and it made the miles fly by. There's a huge number to choose from.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 3:06 PM on May 14, 2008

The 'anti-squeal' stuff everyone seems to be talking about is probably 'brake grease'. Lovely term, I know. It's applied to the bolts that the calipers float on, the backside of the pads and pretty much any other metal to metal contact area but never get the stuff between the pads and the rotor. It'll screw up your braking and sometimes catch fire.
Now, I've had a bit of a squealing problem, when I've neglected to apply the grease or other times with really cheap/shitty brake pads,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 8:27 PM on May 13, 2008

Oh and about a comment up above: never, ever and I can't stress this enough, spray silicone, WD40 or anything but BRAKE CLEANER on your brakes. This is just a very fast evaporating degreaser that leaves no residue.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 8:30 PM on May 13, 2008

I think I just figured out what mu~ha~ha~ha~har is talking about. There is a silicone anti-squeal spray, but it's only for serpentine or fan/accessory belts. Your brakes would light this stuff up like gasoline after one trip down an off ramp.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 8:33 PM on May 13, 2008

I'm not qualified in any way to say anything about stocks. That said, I've been looking around and playing with some numbers. This isn't the firesale you're looking for. This is a hellish market for long term investors and so many of the stocks that look like great values have hidden traps that retail investors really need to dig to find.

seriously devalued but relatively safe

There is no such thing. If there were, the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 8:31 PM on May 12, 2008

Oh and whatever you do, make sure it's the opposite of what Jim Cramer is recommending that week.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 8:33 PM on May 12, 2008

Well, I do like the Motley Fool Caps section (free sign ups) for ideas. It's a nice way to see what those with good track records are recommending to take a closer look at (I'm in there, I also fail at short term stock picking). One word of warning there: many of those players get their high ranking by shorting run ups ect. So if you look in their profile and it's 90% thumbs down, they're probably not the person to be getting long term investing ideas from.
I think their articles... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 10:02 AM on May 13, 2008

You can boot the XP install from a flash drive. You can even install it on one, for that matter. Why not put ZP on one and, say, Ubuntu on another to see which works best for you before wiping the HD? I would go with XP for photoshop and such, but since you don't seem to need that it's entirely what you like better.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 6:44 PM on May 6, 2008 marked best answer

I've taken both, also. The Lexapro had a weird sweating/clammy effect on me and I didn't like it at all. The Wellbutrin had minimal bad side effects (with the exception of a seriously increased libido) but at that point I was mostly taking it to help with the smoking.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 6:04 PM on April 25, 2008

I'll get pictures, hold on.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 4:22 PM on March 18, 2008

The top photo is where they're concentrated. Flickr
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 4:53 PM on March 18, 2008

Oh and that's just one, they come in several shades or black/brown/red.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 4:58 PM on March 18, 2008

Bobby, what if I get chickens AND a flamethrower, does that qualify for the KFC Special discount?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 6:38 PM on March 18, 2008

That is an excellent idea. Mad bleaching followed up by more poison. I settled on Sevin Dust since I don't have to wait for it to show up in the mail. I'd completely forgotten this stuff existed until someone mentioned it this morning. Thank you for your answers.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 4:25 PM on March 19, 2008

Sorry, I removed the tick photos a few days ago. The ants are something entirely different. After comparing the photos to others online it turns out they are (were?), in fact, mostly deer ticks with the reddish fringe to their carapace. There's no obvious food source anywhere in my yard, btw.
Just to update: They're mostly dead now, though I do still find them in areas I didn't dust very well. The landlord is dragging their feet but promising some more drastic pest control action... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 9:15 AM on March 30, 2008

Polycarbonate(Lexan).
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 6:48 PM on March 20, 2008

If you end up using acrylic, try to use distilled (or at least filtered) water. The eventual lime/scale buildup will be almost impossible to clean without scratching or damaging such soft plastic.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 10:04 AM on March 23, 2008

Wipe, reinstall then do whole disk encryption and never leave it logged in while you're not on it again.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 1:55 PM on March 19, 2008

How is the power company accessing the pole now? I'd be careful with this one, they might just get a bigger easement for that (who knows which lot it will affect?) if push comes to shove.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 8:50 AM on March 18, 2008

They're fairly inexpensive, so no worries about cashing in the retirement. I have heard good things (and consequently purchased one) about APC units. Check out Amazon.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 6:21 AM on March 12, 2008

Also, most VD managers like Virtual Dimension let you drag a little program icon to swap which desktop the program is in. It saves me from having crunched up apps in the task bar (over 10 and it starts getting hard to read the web page titles, for example).
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 1:05 PM on March 6, 2008

Maybe if they're out of network. In network dentists have a contractually agreed amount with the insurance company. Exactly like health insurance.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 2:43 PM on February 20, 2008

I can't believe no one has mentioned Practical PHP yet.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 2:28 PM on February 18, 2008

That is, in fact, very odd. A good sign that the insulation isn't doing it's job. Replace the wires.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 5:50 PM on February 17, 2008

Are you running Google Desktop?
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 7:43 PM on February 15, 2008

Oh and I just got in contact with the seller and they're going to contact the post office too. Not sure what else they can do.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 11:39 AM on February 6, 2008

No one on Monday or Tuesday rang my doorbell. It's possible that he's only lying about that part and did leave it, but someone would have had to show up right behind him and snagged it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 11:40 AM on February 6, 2008

Was it an early delivery, do you have a barking dog?

No and no. Doorbell works great, the maintenance guy just came by and rang it. I have UPS and Fedex bringing mail here every week, they have no problem with the doorbell.


If you aren't afraid of annoying the seller, you will be able to get your money back. File a PayPal "Item not received" dispute.

I'm not... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 1:00 PM on February 6, 2008

Thank you, I think I'll keep pestering them. From what I gathered the inspectors were already there yesterday when I called at 4:30 (that was quick!). I also contacted the seller again and let them know that they should file a claim according to the USPS site. If all else fails I'll go the paypal route.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 5:21 AM on February 7, 2008

They have nothing helpful to tell me. I was directed to consumer affairs, who told me they were calling the post office themselves and would be calling me back. Apparently the USPS's tracking/delivery confirmation isn't worth a damn.

Thanks for all of your answers.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 10:39 AM on February 8, 2008

Dynamic compression.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 6:27 AM on February 8, 2008

Have you had the pressure tested? If the regulator, for whatever reason, is allowing large amounts of pressure buildup it might cause this. The car would still run if the PCM were compensating enough for the excess and it would result in codes such as those. (The PCM would understand in some basic way that it needed to compensate and this means there's trouble in the fuel system.) Perhaps there's a clog in the return portion that's moving about when you remove and replace the seals then being... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 2:35 PM on February 7, 2008

With a fuel pressure gauge.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 4:35 PM on February 7, 2008

Sure it's possible, thermal expansion/contraction can cause weird things like this in machinery. Strange that something in your pc would have anything requiring that close a tolerance, however.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 2:42 PM on February 7, 2008

Taillight seals or the trunk weatherstrip. Water is flowing down the sheet metal, bypassing the false bottom in your trunk and that's probably why it's not wet.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 4:57 PM on February 4, 2008

One other thing, check the seal on your antenna (doubtful).
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 4:59 PM on February 4, 2008

He needs to close that account. It's entirely possible the thief used an ACH debit (check by site/phone ect) with the account number and routing number instead of the card. If that's the case, canceling the card will be useless. Seconding the police report, ect.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 12:48 PM on February 3, 2008 marked best answer

On the bright side, if you go the car you end up with will probably be a toyoda.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 5:55 PM on February 1, 2008

I get this constantly from lack of sleep and staring at a monitor too long. It's very important to look away and blink often. Rest your eyes often, there's not much else that will help other than anesthetic eye drops and that's prescription only for good reason.
posted to Ask Metafilter by IronLizard at 12:37 PM on January 31, 2008